For her use
Palsgrave prepared his celebrated _Esclarcissement de la Langue
Francoyse_, which he subsequently revised and published in 1530, after
his return to England, where he was incorporated M.A. at Oxford. The
_Esclarcissement_ is a famous book, at once grammar and vocabulary,
and may be considered as the earliest dictionary of a modern language,
in French as well as in English. It was reprinted in 1852 at the
expense of the French Government in the series of publications
entitled 'Collection de documents inedits sur l'histoire de France,
publies par les soins du Ministre de l'Instruction Publique, Deuxieme
Serie--Histoire des Lettres et des Sciences.' It is a trite saying
that 'they do these things better in France'; but it is, nevertheless,
sometimes true. Amid all the changes of government which France has
seen in modern times, it has never been forgotten that the history of
the French language, and of French letters and French science, is part
of the history of France; the British government has not even now
attained to the standpoint of recognizing this: among the historical
documents published under the direction of the authorities of the
Record Office, there is no series illustrating the history of the
language, the literature, or the science of England.
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